NET made compulsory for SC Students to avail Research Scholarship

NET made compulsory for SC Students – So far, SC students simply needed to pass their postgraduate exams and submit a research proposal to apply for MPhil or PhD funding. But now, new government guidelines say that Scheduled Caste (SC) students will now need to clear the National Eligibility Test (NET) in order to apply for MPhil and PhD funding.

BJP parliamentarian and chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations Udit Raj condemned the change. “The new guidelines are unjust and a move to exclude Dalit students from higher education,” he said.

The new government guidelines – which impact about 2,000 students – are being called unjust and looked at as a move to exclude Dalit students from higher education.

The guidelines were sent with a letter from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to the University Grants Commission (UGC) on October, 11 2018 and are actually with effect from April 2018.